Milk powder processing – From liquid to powder

Milk is 87% water. The idea of turning raw milk from liquid to powder form relies heavily on removing water content from milk. This involves three processes: filtration, evaporation, and drying

In filtration, milk passes through filters that have special membranes that let water pass through. This stage removes about 60 percent of the water content. The filtered milk then goes through the evaporator which heats it to remove an additional 25% water content. And finally, the processed milk goes to the dryer, in which it is injected at high pressure in a chamber with hot air that rapidly removes the remaining moisture. At this point, the fluidized bed dryer cools the milk powder and after sieving it, it goes to a filling machine for packaging.

Storage and shelf life that makes the difference

Milk powder is known to have a longer shelf life than liquid milk. That’s because, for microorganisms to grow, a minimum amount of water in an environment is necessary. Since liquid milk has more water, it will have more microbial growth. During milk powder processing, dehydration processes remove the water content, so powdered milk will have less microbial growth. Actually, if stored properly, milk powder has a shelf life of more than one year.